


finding fate

by TheQueenInTheNorth



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/M, Friends to Lovers, Kid Fic, Teenagers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-15
Updated: 2019-10-15
Packaged: 2020-12-16 22:41:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,241
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21043982
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheQueenInTheNorth/pseuds/TheQueenInTheNorth
Summary: Sinara's just trying to find her way through the maze. Instead, she finds Kasius.





	finding fate

**10**

Sinara stood at a fork in the path, hands on her hips and scowling. She was pretty sure she’d already gone through there; there was a bloody piece of cloth hanging from a stalk of maize that seemed familiar.

But then, everything had started to look the same a while ago.

She kicked at a stone on the ground before her, following it down the left path as it rolled away.

The maze had started out as exciting as the older kids made it out to be but now she had found six out of seven stations and kept going in circles. She was almost starting to regret sneaking in behind the rowdy group of teens, pretending to belong. Kids under twelve weren’t allowed unaccompanied, and no one from the group home ever wanted to go - or take her along if they did.

Not that she saw the point in the age restriction now that she was in. The zombies were convincing, sure, but that didn’t stop her from knowing they were just actors. She was ten, not an idiot.

She kicked the stone again and it hit a bunch of crates stacked at the edge of the path. The sneaker just sticking around the corner flinched.

Sinara inched over, prepared to kick the actor in the shins if he tried to grab at her too much. She only had one good jacket and she didn’t want fake blood on it.

The actor was small, and cowering, and possibly crying. He did not so much as look up at her.

Well, that wasn’t right.

“Hey,”she said.

The clearly-not-a-zombie yelped.

“Are you a clue?”she asked. Stupid station seven had to be somewhere, after all.

He peeked up at her through his fingers, scooting further against the crates.“Am I what?”

“A clue.” Sinara lightly kicked his sneaker, far cleaner than her own.“You’re sitting here and being weird. Maybe you’re a clue to find the stations.”

He lowered his hands and straightened up a bit. He had very clearly been crying.

“I’m not a clue,”he said.“My big brother left me in here. Faulnak thinks he’s being funny with stuff like that.”

“And now you’re lost?”

“No, I know the way out. I’m just -”

He trailed off.

“Scared to stop hiding?”Sinara suggested.

He nodded miserably.

Sinara thought about that, chewing on her lower lip as he watched her wearily. She didn’t know the way out, and she definitely didn’t know the way to station seven.

“I’ll walk you out if you get me to the last station,”she said. She opened her satchel to show him the six vials she had collected, the fake cure in the fake zombie outbreak. The first to find all of them got a huge bag of candy.“I found the first six and I’m not quitting.”

He got to his feet, taking a deep breath before he nodded.“There’s a system. I can get you there, easy.”

“Then I’ll keep the zombies at bay,”she joked.

He paled but didn’t start crying again.

“We have to go left,”he said.“I’m Kasius, by the way.”

“Sinara,”she said, and started walking.

She almost jumped out of her skin not two steps later, the first real fright she’d gotten in the maze.

She hastily crossed her arms across her chest.

“What are you doing?”she snapped.

Kasius shrugged.“Holding your hand?”

“Why would you -” She took one look at his big, sad eyes and sighed.“Ugh, fine!”

This maze was really not the right place for a crybaby like him.

She thrust her hand out to him and he happily took it. There was no dirt under his nails, she could tell that even in the half-dark. He probably could see the dirt under hers, then.

He made no comment about it, simply pushing his fingers between hers and clinging on like she was his lifeline.

She kicked a few zombie shins on the way and yelled into a couple of mad scientists’ faces while Kasius squeaked and squished her hand but they made it without tears and with the seventh vial.

They weren’t first so all they got was a pumpkin-shaped lollipop.

Sinara stuck it in her mouth, trying not to be disappointed.

Kasius tugged on her hand.“Wanna have some hot chocolate? It comes with marshmallow mice.”

She didn’t ask why he was still holding her hand, even out of the maze. Instead she said,“I don’t have money.”

“I’m paying,”Kasius said, as if it should be obvious.“Least I can do after you saved me back there.”

“Okay,”she said, against her better judgement.

They were queuing up for their drinks when a group of teens sidled up to them.

“Found your way out, then?”the obvious ringleader said. The brother who’d left him, she guessed. Faulnak. He sneered as Kasius nodded and tried to keep his face emotionless.“And you found yourself a little girlfriend, too?”

“Actually, I found him,”Sinara said, and then kicked Faulnak in the shins.

He might not be a zombie but he was at least as gross.

**17**

After that first year, they went into the maze together every time. They started winning first place more often than not, and sheepishly stopped holding hands the third year, though Kasius didn’t stop jumping and grabbing her arm at every sudden noise.

“Are we getting too old for this?”Kasius asked, confidently striding down the path that looked least like it might lead anywhere worthwhile, if you asked Sinara.

But she’d stopped questioning his insistence on the system being obvious long ago. He was right most of the time.

She shrugged.“Probably. But I want that bag of candy anyways.”

“We could just buy candy, you know.”

“Yeah. Doesn’t taste as good, though.”

“That’s true,”he said and pointed down a narrow path.“The first station’ll be down there, I bet.”

They indeed found a coffin in the dead end, upright and partly between maize stalks. The theme was vampires, this year.

Kasius fell back as they neared the station.

Sinara rolled her eyes at him.“Not so sure of your system, huh?”

“I just don’t like people jumping at me,”he muttered. He returned to her side anyways, probably to prove he wasn’t doubting his station-finding genius.

He’d been right about it being a station. It didn’t stop him from jumping back and shrieking as the mannequin dropped out towards them when Sinara opened the coffin.

“Way to give the location away,”Sinara complained good-naturedly, feeling around the back of the coffin until she found a bump and pulled the little drawer out. She took one of the keys before replacing the mannequin.

She grinned at Kasius, who grinned back. He was long past worrying she’d laugh at him for getting startled too easily.“Guess we’re not too old for this yet.”

“Not as long as you still scream like that. Go on, then, where’s the next station?”

He took a moment to survey their surroundings, then pointed out a direction and started walking again.

Sinara was quick to follow, the key safely in her pocket. She lightly bumped her shoulder against his as she caught up with him.

“Sinara?” It was barely more than a whisper.“What are you doing?”

“Holding your hand,”Sinara replied with a shrug.

He smiled at her.“Pretty sure I’m too old to need my hand held for the Halloween maze.”

“Pretty sure you’re old enough to know that’s not why I’m holding your hand,”she said.

Kasius squeezed her hand.“Just making sure.”

They didn’t make first place that year, too busy snogging in a deserted corner of the maze.

**25**

“You’re being no help,”Sinara grumbled, spreading out the clues they’d found so far on the aluminum workbench.

The theme was aliens, so whatever genius planned these things had made basically every prop some sort of grey or silver.

“I brought you to the station, didn’t I?”Kasius said and pressed a kiss to her temple. “And you solved one already.”

“And how useful that has been.” Sinara leaned against him to take the edge out of her complaining. They were decidedly too old for the maze now but loved the tradition, and she still wanted to win the candy, even though they’d started handing it out to kids right after winning it years ago. She always made sure it went to those with the scruffiest sneakers and oldest jackets. She scowled at the card.“It just says ‘Will’, it could be the verb or the name.”

Kasius only shrugged at that so Sinara gathered everything up so they could go and see if the next station was any help.“Besides, the other clues don’t use the same system.”

“That would be too easy, wouldn’t it?”

“It’s a corn maze, Kas, not some grand set-up.”

He just gave a vague hum and lead the way to the next station.

Sinara indeed found the next station very helpful. She took another look at her assembled clues while Kasius rummaged around for the new one; the pattern on the fake control panel perfectly fit the weirdly shaped cog they’d recovered at the fourth station.

She twisted it into place and the display lit up with just two letters: me.

“Solved one more,”Sinara said just as Kasius said,“Found the clue.”

The clue was a box and even though Kasius insisted the key to it was surely at another station, she quickly found a rock to smash in the lock.

Kasius snatched the box away before she could go through with her plan, glaring at her.

“You’re cheating,”he accused.

Sinara cocked her head to the side with a frown.“C’mon, since when do you mind that? You like winning as much as I do.”

“Maybe breaking it ruins the clue,”Kasius said.

She had to admit that was possible, so let him carry the box for now, lock sadly unsmashed. He was cradling it like a treasure.

Sinara rolled her eyes at his antics, pushing her hand into his free one.“I’m not gonna take your precious box, relax.”

“So long as you don’t break it you can have it,”he said, dropping a kiss against her temple.“Almost there.”

She didn’t question how he knew that.

The soft light around the next corner proved him right, anyway. The laboratory was set up with colourful liquids in varying tubes and flasks. One bore the same symbol as the simple paper from station two.

Sinara uncorked the bottle and poured it over the paper without hesitation. Either they’d get somewhere or she was ruining it.

“You,”she read out as the word slowly became visible.

So the clues were spelling out a sentence, it seemed. And assuming they were in the correct order already -

She glanced at the box again, then at Kasius. His smile was a little too innocent to believe.

She stared at him wordlessly until she managed,“Is this what I think it is?”

“You’re not supposed to know until the next station,”Kasius said.

“Kasius. Yes or no?”

“Well, technically you have to tell me.”

“I think technically you have to ask first?”

“The key really is at the next station,”he replied, somewhat reproachfully holding up the box.“I can’t ask  _ now. _ I can’t get to the ring.”

“I don’t care about,”she started but broke off. Kasius cared about the ring and all that crap, and since she cared about him, she sort of cared about it all by proxy. She rolled her eyes. It did nothing to make her smile any less bright.“Okay, lead the way to the station.”

**34**

“How off base are they?”Sinara asked in a whisper, watching the kids argue until they could agree and ran down the path to their left.

Kasius shrugged as they followed them.“The right one would’ve been quicker but it’s not too terrible. This way we’ll get to station five before three, though.”

“So they inherited your weird station finding skill, then,”Sinara quipped, picking up a faster pace as the children disappeared around the next corner.

They suddenly shrieked in unison, followed by an unfamiliar adult yelping.

“And your tendency to kick the actors,”Kasius added with a sigh.

In the few seconds it took them to catch up, their kids had gotten over their fright already.

“Did you know that your hat is probably based on alewife hats?”Kaznaq asked the woman posing as a witch while Amarina rummaged through the little purse she’d insisted on bringing. She gave the faux-witch a smile.“I have a needle in there somewhere. Then we can find the spot you don’t bleed.”

“Pardon?”the actress said.

“That was superstition,”Kaznaq pointed out to his sister.

Amarina shrugged.“And the alewife theory is one of many.”

“Well, it has more merit than -”

“You know only the first team out the maze gets the candy, right?”Sinara cut in.

The kids exchanged shocked looks and took off running again, throwing their goodbyes to the witch over their shoulders.

“Bye, lady, there’s no time to torture you, sorry!”

“Your shoes aren’t period-accurate but your broom’s cool! Sorry for kicking you!”

“Sprightly kids you got there,”the witch said, by her expression still working through the encounter.

“Thanks.” Kasius squeezed past her, tugging a snickering Sinara along.“We’d best catch up with them now.”


End file.
